What Is The Difference Between Lager And Ale?

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Question:  What Is The Difference Between Lager And Ale?

I am an accredited beer sommelier and this is the question I am most often asked. The answer is heaven for nerds (of which I am one)!

Ales and lagers are members of the beer family and made from water, malted cereal, hops and yeast (and sometimes extra ingredients).  If you think of Darjeeling, Earl Grey, Oolong, and Green, they are all classified as tea, just different versions.  It is the same with beer.  In the family tree of beer there are three branches: Ale, Lager, and Wild Fermentation beers (I will write about those in a future post). Under the Ales banner there are dozens of styles including India Pale Ale (IPA), Porter, Stout, Wheat beer (aka Weizen, Weiss, Wit), Bitter, Mild.  There are also several styles of Lager including Pilsner, Vienna, Dunkel, Bock, Helles and others – and in terms of colour they range from straw to black which surprises people who thing of lager as one style, i.e. Pilsner.

Brewing Water

Two factors about the ingredients differentiate Ale and Lager - water and strain of yeast during fermentation.  The water used for brewing lagers is soft, i.e. light in mineral salts, and with ales it is high in mineral salts and so is harder. The mineral content has an impact on the mouthfeel and body of the beer.  Lagers are lighter bodied than ales, although this is also connected with the strain of yeast used in fermentation (more on that below).  Certain minerals have a positive impact on the actual brewing by making necessary processes more efficient. Calcium sulphate in water enhances the perception of hop characteristics, very important in certain styles such as pale ales, whereas calcium carbonate enhances the colour of darker beers.

Strain of Yeast

The brewing process is the same for lagers and ales, but what happens during fermentation differs.  Ales are fermented with warm fermenting Saccharomyces Cerevisiae strains of cultured yeast.  In addition to alcohol, these contribute aroma and flavour to the beer during a swift fermentation. They are sometimes called top fermenting, referring to the direction of the excess yeast cells which rise to the top of the beer during fermentation.

For lager, the brewer uses cool fermenting Saccharomyces Pastorianus cultured yeast strains that ferments slowly and does not contribute flavour and aroma the way an ale yeast does.  They are sometimes called bottom fermenting, referring to the direction of the excess yeast cells which sink to the bottom of the beer during fermentation. Lager yeast eats some sugars the ale yeast does not, and in addition to the water’s mineral content this contributes to lagers being lighter bodied than ales.

I could go full-on loco nerd, and write more, but I won’t because the intention of these posts is to be brief.

If you are keen to learn more about beer, one of my books - The Philosophy of Beer - will turn you into AristotALE.  You can buy a signed copy here or purchase it through a book shop.

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Cheers

Jane

Books & Courses

At the School of Booze I encourage lifelong learning but you can do your homework at the pub! Textbooks (written by me) include titles about beer, gin, cocktails, and a drinks miscellany.   Signed Copies Here And if you are in the market for some inexpensive downloadable Beer, Cider, or Wine Knowledge courses click here.

I also write fiction and my first novel ‘Sole Brethren:  If The Shoe Fits’ was written under my pen-name B.A. Summer. One of the characters is the scion of a Champagne house, and it also contains the perfect pub.